BACKNational Schools Symphony Orchestra opens for 2021
The residential courses for 8- to 17-year-olds are set to go ahead at Malvern College this July, including three orchestras, a conducting course and a newly launched Big Band.
Running from 8 – 18 July, the National Schools Symphony Orchestra (NSSO) courses will be shorter than usual and there will be fewer people on-site to ensure socially distanced rehearsals and performances.
Aspiring participants can audition for NSSO Philharmonic, NSSO Sinfonia, NSSO Academy, NSSO Big Band, or NSSO Conducting Course, the course dates for which vary.
Landesmusikräte: Bei Lockdown-Lockerungen Chorproben wieder zulassen
Die Konferenz der Landesmusikräte Deutschlands hat die Landesregierungen aufgefordert, bei ersten Lockdown-Lockerungen Proben in der Amateurmusik wieder zuzulassen. «Chöre, Blasorchester und Musikvereine aller Art sind in der Lage, Hygienekonzepte und Abstandsregeln so auszuarbeiten, dass ein coronagemäßes Proben möglich ist», hieß es in dem Appell vom Donnerstag, den auch der Hamburger Landesmusikrat verschickt hatte.
Und: «Es geht hier nicht um Freizeitgestaltung, sondern um kulturelle Artikulation und Identitätsbildung.» Proben im Amateurbereich sind in den meisten Bundesländern wegen der Corona-Pandemie derzeit verboten. Den Angaben zufolge spielen rund neun Millionen Menschen in Deutschland ein Instrument und es gibt circa 60 000 Chöre.
State Music Councils: Allow choir rehearsals again in case of lockdown relaxations
The Conference of the State Music Councils of Germany has called on the state governments to allow rehearsals in amateur music again during initial lockdown relaxations. “Choirs, wind orchestras and music clubs of all kinds are in a position to work out hygiene concepts and spacing rules in such a way that rehearsals in accordance with coronavirus are possible,” said the appeal on Thursday, which the Hamburg State Music Council had also sent out.
And: “This is not about recreational activities, but about cultural articulation and identity formation.” Amateur rehearsals are currently banned in most federal states because of the Coronavirus pandemic. According to the data, about nine million people in Germany play an instrument and there are about 60,000 choirs.
L’optimisme revient à Bayreuth
Le festival Wagner a présenté sa programmation, malgré les incertitudes qui planent encore sur l’ensemble de la vie musicale européenne.
Coup de tonnerre dans le ciel estival l’an dernier : en raison de la pandémie, le Festival de Bayreuth a été entièrement annulé, une première depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Mais 2021 ne ressemblera pas à 2020 veut croire Katharina Wagner, l’arrière-petite-fille du compositeur, qui règne sur la colline verte.
Après Salzbourg ou Aix-en-Provence, Bayreuth a donc présenté il y a quelques jours sa programmation de l’été prochain, dont le coup d’envoi devrait être donné le 25 juillet par une nouvelle production du Vaisseau fantôme confiée à Dmitri Tcherniakov, metteur en scène omniprésent mais qui n’avait encore jamais sévi in loco.
Optimism returns to Bayreuth
The Wagner Festival presented its programme, despite the uncertainties that still hang over the whole of European musical life.
Thunder in the summer sky last year: Due to the pandemic, the Bayreuth Festival was cancelled entirely, a first since the Second World War. But 2021 will not look like 2020, a sentiment believed by Katharina Wagner, the composer’s great-granddaughter, who reigns over the green hill.
After Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence, Bayreuth presented a few days ago its programme for next summer, which should kick off on 25 July with a new production of The Phantom Ship entrusted to Dmitri Tcherniakov, an omnipresent director but who has never before performed in loco.